The Shadow (to be possibly remade)
by BMG Studios
Summary: After a tragic accident and a strange encounter, Quentin Argo finds a strange ghost-like creature called a "midnight shadow". When it enters his body, he becomes the super hero: The Shadow. As he learns about his new powers and fight threatening villains, he must uncover the mystery behind his parents' fall from scientific fame.
1. Origin part 1

Hello, and welcome to the story of my original superhero, The Shadow. He is a character I created as part of the fan-made Cinematic Universe that me and my friends from Spectrum Productions created. My character first appeared in the film "New Age of Heroes" from 2016 (Yes, it was named after the subtitle of Marvel vs. Capcom 2). What you're about to read is an extended look at his origin story, as well as the first adventure he had and the villains he fought before meeting his teammates from that movie. This will be an stand alone story, but I will be making a separate fanfic with more individual stories coming soon. Thank You.

In the year 2014, Downtown Montreal is under attack from the evil Lord Doomer and his army of doominoids. Buildings are burning and collapsing and citizens are being attacked by minions.

During this time 4 meta-humans escaped from prison to stop them... but will get to them later.

Back in the city we meet Quentin Argo, a fourteen year old science lover, and the son of famous scientists, Dr. Clayton and Jaqueline Argo. The Argo family had been dedicating their lives to studying the possibilities of life outside of the Earth, in other words... extra terrestrials. However, that all ended when the United Nations forcfully shut down their lab and research due to being seen as possible bait for interstellar invaders.

Quentin wanted to be just like his parents, and spent most of his life homeschooled due to fear of being considered an outcast to other students. At least, that's what his parents say the reason is. It was also so he could focus more on scientific studies to follow in his footsteps, but that would all change today...

Doominoids were swarming through the sky, blasting every building in their path, among them was the condo that Quentin and his family live in. The sound of screams filled the air. The doominoids were an alien race trying to claim Earth as their new home after their last one exploded.

"These freaks won't let up!" Quentin worried. "What are we gonna do?!"

"Simple." his father replied, "We have to evacuate before the building collapses with us in it." He busted through the door, which had been stuck from the wreckage.

"Clayton, its not safe out there with all those aliens, they will vaporize us!" His wife said in a panicked tone, "Can't we wait for the fire department or a rescue helicopter?!"

"Mom, I'm positive every helicopter in the area has been shot down."Quentin replied, knowing his father had the right idea."Lead the way Dad."

The family of 3 ran outside the door watching every step of the way for fires or holes in the ground. They managed to survive walking down each floor until the second to last one, which would cause the most painful moment in Quentin's life.

"Jaqueline, Quentin, were almost there," Dr. Argo said with passion, "just one more flight of stairs and were in the clear." Quentin managed to get to the door but before his parents could, parts of the ceiling fell on them, along with some debris.

"Mom, Dad!" Quentin said in shock as he ran to his parents, attempting to lift the debris to set them free. Unfortunately, the fires from the floors above started spreading across the room and getting close to them. Quentin was struggling to lift, but his father grabbed his arm and he and his mother told him to leave.

"Son!" Jaqueline said in a struggled voice. "It's no use, were done for, but you must live a good life."

"What are you saying?!" Quentin said with a worried look on his face.

"Were saying its over for us and we want you to keep going" his father said, also in a struggling voice, "Get out of here!"

"No!" Quentin yelled as he tried pulling his father out.

"Go!" Dr. Argo demanded.

"I'm not leaving you guys!" Quentin refused as continued to lift the debris.

"I SAID GO!" Dr. Argo repeated.

He pushed Quentin into the end of the hallway, through the door before the fire reached it.

Quentin, out of fear, continued to run outside of the building, avoiding debris in his path. He managed to get through the front door but sees a bunch of doominoids wreaking havoc across town. He saw a group of what looked like superheroes attacking them.

One of them was a strange magician with a top hat, an opera mask, a red bowtie, a white shirt, a black cape and a crazy laugh. He would later be known as "The Illusionist".

Another one of them was a caped hero wearing a red outfit and cape, and had a buzz cut. He would later be known as "Solarus".

Another, had wrist guards, a white shirt, a bow and arrows, and wings. He would later be known as the demi-god "Zunder".

The last one of the group had a blue suit with white armour and a blaster. He would later be known as "Azure Striker".

" _Who are those guys_?" Quentin thought to himself until he heard an explosion. He saw his Condo tumbling down from the lack of balance and the impact caused a loud BOOM!

Quentin had tears in his eyes as he yelled in the air "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" he fell to his knees with his clenched fists.

With a face of distraught and guilt, he ran as far away possible with the doominoids continuing to destroy the city. After running close to the city limits, he saw something fall from the sky. It looked like a black meteorite, but it was much smaller than the average one, and it was leaving behind a trail of purple smoke as it fell and crashed in a nearby forest.

Quentin thought to himself, " _What was that?_ " whatever it was, he knew it had to be something of great power.

Quentin made it to the forrest where he saw the meteor crash and entered with caution.

"I have a really bad feeling about this." He thought out loud. "Something tells me it has something to do with those aliens, or worse..."

He finally made it to the crash site, noticing a whole path of trees cut down or with exposed roots, with a crater at the end. At the bottom of the crater, the meteor was a blackish purple with green holes in it, and also had purple smoke coming out of it.

"I've never seen a meteor up close before but even I know that their usually not this colour." Quentin said, thinking that it should be delivered to Area 51 or the government, or even those heroes he saw earlier. "Wherever this think came from, it should definitely be kept away from the wrong hands." he said to himself.

" _Mom, Dad, if you can hear me, I won't let your legacies be in vain, this will be my breakthrough._ " he thought.

Quentin reached out to grab the meteor but before he could do so, it began to crack. " _What the hell? I didn't even lay a finger on it!_ "

It continued to crack until it broke in half and something came out of it. He fell back and landed on his elbows, as he watched what came out of the meteor swarm around until it was right in front of him. It was a strange creature with a ghost-like appearance, a purple and black hue, pointy teeth, and glowing green eyes.

" _What the hell is that thing?!_ " Quentin thought to himself sacredly.

The ghost-like creature spoke in a semi-demonic deep voice: "Attention Terran, I have come from the edge of space, seeking someone of value to prote-"

Quentin cut him off, saying "I don't care who you are or what you are, but what I do care about is the fact that you look like bad news and i'm out of here!"

He started running like there was no tomorrow.

"You can't escape from me so easily..." The creature said as it easily caught up to Quentin.

Before getting close to the exit, the creature caught up and entered Quentin's body, causing him to freeze in place for a second and engulfing him in a giant black orb.

Inside of the orb, everything was black with purple streaks, Quentin's eyes were closed tightly as he thought he was already dead. Suddenly, his body from the neck down turned purple and what seemed like gloves and boots started appearing on his hands and feet. The creature appeared again behind him, with only its eyes and upper jaw visible and it bit the top half of his head and turned into a hood.

The orb finally disappeared, with Quentin looking like a superhero. He had a purple suit with a symbol on his chest. The symbol looked like the face of the creature (Demonic green eyes and open mouth), he had black leather gloves with tiny spikes on the finger tips. He had black boots with 3 spikes pointed upwards on the toe area. He had a long black cloak and hood with a bit of his hear sticking out, and a mask on his eyes. He finally opened his eyes and they were glowing green like the creature.

" _What the heck just happened to me...why do I look like Mysterion from South Park?_ " he thought to himself before his eyes started looking normal again, and began loosing consciousness.

When he finally landed on the ground he was back in his normal clothing, and the creature went towards his wrist and made a watch appear.

As he closed his eyes, he could see flashes of red and black and what sounded like police sirens.

"Someone get that kid to a hospital!" said a faded voice.


	2. Origin part 2

2 months later:

After Quentin had that ghost-like creature enter his body, he collapsed and went into a coma for 2 months. A lot has happened in that time, the city has been under construction after the attack of the doominoids. Their leader, Lord Doomer was destroyed by the 4 heroes, leaving his minions either destroyed or fleeing back to whatever planet they came from. As for what became of the heroes, News reports stated that the heroes turned themselves in shortly after the battle with the doominoids, but their current location is currently unknown. One of the heroes, Solarus, had tragically died during the battle, but his friends promised to remember the sacrifice he made to help the citizens of Montreal.

There have even been reports of a dangerous robot running a muck, but most of those reports have been unconfirmed. Once again will get to him later.

As for Quentin, he had finally woken up from his coma but not without feeling a bit of pain in his head. "Uhhhhh...What in Stan Lee's name happened?" He said while trying to keep his eyes open.

"How did I get here?" he thought out loud as he noticed himself in a bedroom.

"Hey, _t_ _his looks like the bedroom I slept in whenever I spent a weekend overnight at my Uncle Forrest's and Aunt Tara's_ " he thought to himself. He then noticed a black and purple watch on his right wrist. "What is this thing?"

Quentin, still confused by his surroundings, noticed a TV in front of him with the news on. The News anchor had very short hair, and a dark blue suit and tie. "Our story of the evening is 'The Heroes Vs. Aliens: Where are they now?', it has now been 2 months since the city of Montreal was Invaded by an evil alien named Lord Doomer, along with his army of minions known as the doominoids."

Quentin was in shock, the last thing he remembered was the day of the doominoid attack. "The doominoids are gone?" he asked followed by a sigh of relief.

"But wait, how long ago did he say it was? And did he just say one of the heroes died?" he then realized as he tried to process what he heard.

"You really need to pay attention" said a familiar voice.

Quentin turned his head and was surprised to see a familiar face.

It was a man in his early 40s, he had a beard and glasses, and wore a hot dog eating contest shirt.

"Uncle Forrest!?" Quentin asked with a confused but happy look on his face.

Forrest Agro was the younger brother of Quentin's father, the late Dr. Clayton Argo. Years ago, he was selected to be the Godfather.

"Heya Quenty, glad to see ya finaly awake." he said as he came over and sat next to his nephew.

"Okay 2 things Uncle Forrest" Quentin said in annoyed tone, "1, I thought I told you to stop calling me that. I'm not 7 anymore."

"And 2, What am I doing here?" His tone changed from annoyed back to confused.

"Well I don't know how to tell you this Quentin, but you were in a coma." he nervously explained.

"A coma?! For how long!?" he responded with concern.

Forest pointed to the TV "Weren't you paying attention to the news? You were out cold for a whole 2 months!"

"2 MONTHS!?" Quentin gasped in fear. "But how did I get here?"

Forrest got up to tell the whole story, "Police officers found you unconscious near the-" *points to himself* "forest."

He saw his nephew had a face that just screamed 'not amused'.

"He he, as I was saying, I got a call from the hospital about what happened to your parents, and the state you were in," he said. "so I rushed over as soon as I and your Aunt Tara could to take you home."

"Actually Quentin, they never told me how or why this happened. Do you remember?" he asked.

Quentin was starting to think about that creature and tried to come up with a lie, until the news anchor on the TV said:  
"Coming up next, our top ongoing story: People around town have been reporting the sight of a strange meteorite on the day of the doominoid invasion."

Footage of the meteor crash landing in the forest is shown on the TV, with Quentin fearfully thinking " _OH_ _NO NO NO NO NO!_ " He quickly grabs the remote and turns the TV off.

"Oh I..I do remember why was there...I...um..." Quentin was trying not to mention his contact with the ghost creature. "I was in there because I feeling broken and depressed, I practically watched my parents die right in front me." He started getting misty eyed. "I didn't know what to do or where to go."

Forrest gave his nephew a light hug. "Everything is gonna be alright, Quentin." he said in calm voice. "You do have somewhere to go... you're gonna be living with me and your Aunt from now on."

Quentin raised an eyebrow and asked, "Actually, now that you mention it, where is Aunt Tara?"

His Uncle responded, "She's out getting supplies for you, she and I wanted to make it feel more like home."

"Well thats nice but what am I supposed to do now?" Quentin asked. "I mean, everything I had back home was destroyed in the attack."

"We were gonna surprise you but I guess I should mention that we are trying to list of all of the inheritance your parents left behind, plus we have something big to show you." Forrest explained, "And your Aunt wants you to apply for high school. She says homeschooling is not good for your social life." he continued as left the room.

Quentin tucked himself back into the bed and said, "Thanks for the assistance Uncle Forre-" It was at this moment he realized what he said.  
"-est HIGH SCHOOL!?" he said with wide eyes and a scared look on his face.

Forrest opened the door again and told Quentin "Oh by the way, the doctors told me to tell you to urinate in that cup over there as soon as you wake up from your coma" he said while ignoring the scared look on his nephew's face. "Be sure to do that by the time they and your aunt get home." he closes the door again.

Quentin: *gulp*

"Something tells me my life just took a turn for the worst," Quentin said, "but I should give this place a chance. After all, I haven't been here in ages."

He went back to sleep, knowing that he was still in a weak state.


	3. Origin part 3

A few hours later, Quentin was back on his feet and start looking around his aunt and uncle's house as it has been a long time since he had visited. "Seems the place hasn't changed that much." he said with bit of satisfaction.

He heard a car parking outside, and looked outside a window. He saw a Black ford parked in front of the house, and a 38 year old woman with raven hair.

Quentin had a smile on his face and raced downstairs. "Aunt Tara!" he called with joy.

"Quentin? You're awake!?" Tara said with tears of joy starting form. the two gave a passionate hug to each other.

"You have no idea how happy I am to see you." she said. "I Thought you'd be stuck in a coma for years!"

The two broke the hug and Quentin told her "It's great to see you too, Aunt Tara."

"Also, I've been told that you want me to apply for high school. Care to explain?" he said with an upset look on his face.

His aunt face palmed and said "I told your uncle to keep that a secret until I got home." sounding a bit annoyed.

"Ah, Tara, you're home! Forrest said as he peaked his head out the window. "Mind giving me a hand with the special surprise?"

"Forrest, we've talked about this, its not a surprise if you say it out loud!" she said with a mean tone.

Quentin was noticing some tension between his aunt and uncle, but realized they mentioned a surprise.

He asked "What special Surprise?"

"Come back inside and we'll show you." Forrest responded with excitement.

Quentin and his Aunt both raised an eyebrow. "Well this outa be good." he said sarcastically.

They walked back inside the house to see the surprise. "So where is this surprise?" Quentin asked.

"It's in the basement." his uncle responded.

They open the door, and the basement is pitch black. Quentin is confused until the lights turn on. His face slowly turns from bored to extremely happy.

It was a laboratory, complete with a plasma ball, writing board, and tools galore. Quentin could not believe his eyes, it was just so beautiful.

"I...I...I don't know what to say." he said as started getting emotional. "I'm seriously at a loss for words here."

"Say no more." Forrest told his nephew. "I know it is a lot to take in but your Aunt and I wanted you to continue walking in your parents footsteps, even in their absence."

Quentin rushed over to his aunt and uncle, and gave them a huge hug, feeling like he could not thank them enough.

"How did you guys afford all this stuff?" He said, nearly crying. "Was this part of the inheritance?"

Tara replied, explaining "Actually this was a donation from someone who use to work with your father before his research got shut down."

Quentin's eyes widened "I thought Mom and Dad worked solo?" he asked.

Forrest pulled out a note. "Well you thought wrong, they actually had been working with a good friend of theirs" he explained. "He said his name was... Ryker Mooney."

"I don't recognize the name." he replied.

He grabbed the letter, and it said:

" _Dear Quentin_

 _By the time you are reading this, your parents died during the invasion, and you have awoken from your_ *insert time here* _long coma. But of course, you already know that. What you don't know however, is that I have some very special things for you that your parents left behind. I have a lot of stories to tell you so give me a call and I'll take you to the facility that we had worked at."_

Sincerely R.K.

Quentin was pleasantly surprised about the letter. "This Ryker Mooney sounds like a nice guy, and he can tell me things about my parents that I might not have known." he said to his aunt and uncle.

"If that's what you want Quentin, I'll give him a call and he'll pick you up." Forrest responded, happy to see his nephew this excited.

Later That Night:

Quentin had spent the evening staring at the ceiling, thinking about all the stuff that happened in his absence. But he was still wondering about the creature, and the watch he had on. He noticed it had green eyes and an open mouth where the clock normally would be. He started having short flashbacks of his transformation. He finally snapped out of it and looked away. " _I don't know what's up with this watch, but it's giving me goosebumps._ " he thought. " _Is it somehow connected to that thing from the meteor?_ "

The Next Morning:

Quentin woke up, had breakfast, the usual cliche morning routine.

What made it different was that there was a limousine parked on the side.

" _That must be him._ " he thought.

He walked outside and entered the limo. The drive was quite long, and he was silent for most of the ride. He started thinking about how this Ryker Mooney knew his parents so well.

The limo pulled over to what looked like an ordinary office building, but only from the outside. Quentin followed the driver into the building and inside was a large multi-hallway. Many people in lab coats walked around the area, however there was one person wearing a suit and tie. He also had short orange hair and a beard. He walked over with a surprised look on his face.

"Quentin Argo, is that that really you?!" he said with improv. "Man have you grown!"

Quentin was just confused, "Um...yeah, that's me" he said, feeling acquired. "May I ask how you know me, and where I can find Ryker Mooney?"

"Why your looking at him." he answered. "And I haven't seen you since you were 5."

"Really?" Quentin asked. "How do I not remember you?"

"It was for only short periods, but it nice to see you now because there is something I want to show you" Ryker said anxiously. Quentin followed.

They walked down one of the hallways. Ryker tried making it more interesting, "I'm terribly sorry about your parents, they were some the greatest people I've ever had the pleasure of knowing." he said.

"Do you think they had any evidence of outside life?" Quentin asked as they continued walking down the hall.

"Actually, they did." Ryker answered. "But it wasn't those doominoids from 2 months ago. I'm still surprise that this building remained unharmed throughout the whole thing."

"But what did they find?" He asked, hoping to see how it might to what has been happening to him.

Ryker grabbed his wrist. "Follow me." They entered a secret room.

It was a laboratory, but it was old and dusty. It had once belong to Quentin's parents.

"Wow!" he said with surprise. "This was my parents' lab?"

"Indeed." Ryker answered, knowing how happy Quentin would be to see all this stuff. "But if you think this is neat, check this out." He pulled a large cloth off the wall, revealing something frighteningly familiar.

It looked exactly like the creature that came out of the meteor. " _That thing!? Why did it have to be that thing!?_ " he thought.

"Something wrong, Quentin?" Ryker asked.

Quentin knew he had to lie to avoid unwanted questions, so he did. "Nothing. It's just that creature is very spooky looking? What is it anyway?"

Ryker explained, "Back when this lab was still functional, we had been studying these strange ghost-like creatures."  
"We called them 'Midnight Shadows'"

" _Midnight Shadows? Interesting._ " Quentin thought. He then noticed his watch giving off a strange mist. " _What's this thing doing?!_ " he thought again.

He tried to leave the room without being noticed but Ryker quickly saw him and asked, "Quentin, where are you going? I'm not done with my explanation!"

"Sorry it's just that I...uh, left the microwave in the bathroom on...yeah so um. See ya!" he rushed out of the lab and hid in the bathroom. Thankfully, nobody else was in there.

"What is going on with this thing?!" he yelled, but something emerged from it when he pressed the face piece. It was the "midnight shadow" from the meteor crash.

Quentin was shocked, "You again?!"

It spoke in a semi-demonic voice again, "We need to talk."

"What are you talking about!? HEY!", it grabbed Quentin and they disappeared in a puff of purple smoke. POOF!

Ryker came to the bathroom to find Quentin. "Where'd he go?" he asked himself.

Quentin began to wake up, and found himself on top of a building. He was feeling the same way he did when he woke from his coma, headache and everything.

"Uuuuhhhhh... What Happened?" He said while trying to wake up, "Wait, this isn't my parents' science lab, where am I?!"  
He got up and saw the blue sky above, and more buildings in the distance.

He noticed that he felt stronger and powerful. He then noticed that he was in the superhero suit he wore after the creature entered his body.

(As seen in chapter 1):

He had a purple suit with logo on his chest. The logo looked like the face of the creature (Demonic green eyes and open mouth), he had black leather gloves with tiny spikes on the finger tips. He had black boots with 3 spikes pointed upwards on the toe area. He had a long cloak and hood with a bit of his hair sticking out, and a mask on his eyes.

He looked at his hands and asked himself: "This costume...where'd this come from?"

When he looked down from the top of the building, finally asked himself, "Most importantly...HOW THE HELL DID I GET UP HERE!?"

"Quentin!" said a demonic voice. It caused him to jump back in shock. "All will be explained."

"WHO SAID THAT!?" he asked in a paranoid tone. "Are you a ghost? Cause honestly, after everything I've been through recently, I'll believe anything!"

"I'm the midnight shadow from earlier." it explained. "My name is Terios, and I have come seeking a host."

"For what?!" Quentin asked furiously, "Are you trying to take over the planet by controlling the human race? How frickin ORIGINAL!"

"Calm down, I chose you because you need me." Terios corrected.

"Care to explain, and while your at tell me where you are?" Quentin asked.

"I'm currently speaking to you telepathically from inside you" Terios answered.

Quentin snickered.

"NOT LIKE THAT!" he yelled in rage.

"I am granting you special abilities that the normal Terran could only dream of."

"Wait. Are you saying that I. Have Superpowers!?" Quentin asked with excitement.

Terios answered, "That's one way of putting it."

Quentin raised his arms and jumped for joy, "AWESOME! But what can I do?", he looked at his hands again.

Black fireballs with purple hues appeared in his palms. "Cool! How'd I do that?" he asked

"All will be answered in due time, but now were going to the basics." Terios responded. "We'll start with turning into a shadow."

Quentin raised an eyebrow, "How the hell am I supposed to do that?"

Terios responded, "Simple. Focus your mind and picture yourself desolving into nothing."

Quentin just when with it and closed his eyes tightly. He started sinking into the floor. He became a flat shadowy figure with green eyes on the ground.

"This is incredible!" he said excitingly. "Am I really doing this!?" He raised back from the ground back into physical form.

"Impressive." Tarios said proudly. "But this is just lesson 1."

"So, what's next?" Quentin asked.

"Your next lesson will require aerial travel." his midnight shadow partner responded.

"You mean I can fly!?" he asked with the at most excitement. He blindly ran and jumped off the building. "Whoo Hoo!" he yelled. Quentin then realized he made a huge mistake.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" he screamed as he fell from the sky, flailing his arms and legs.

"Quentin, quick focus your mind again!" Terios yelled

"HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO DO THAT WHEN I'M LITERALLY FALLING TO MY DOOM!?" he yelled back.

"Try to keep your limbs strait!" Terios answered.

He did and as his eyes glowed green, his body turned purple with a black hue and form into streak with a round front and green eyes.

"YAHOOOOOOOOOOOO!" he blasted through the skies, "I can't believe I'm actually doing this!"

Quentin proceeded to fly through the city, "How am I able to do this?!" he asked

"This is your spirit form." Terios told him, "With it, you can fly and do anything that a midnight shadow like me can do!"

"Works for me!" Quentin said, but wasn't paying attention to what was in front of him.

" _Uh-oh._ " he thought as he was headed strait for a building, but he went right through it unharmed.

" _That was way too close!_ " he thought again.

Quentin kept zipping though every obstacle until he got back to the top of the building from earlier.

"That. Was. UNBELIEVABLE!" he shouted with an adrenaline rush.

"Don't get too cocky!" Terios told our hero. "Besides, this is only the beginning."

"Nice," Quentin said, "just one last question before we call it a day."

"What's that?" Terios asked

"How do I get home from here?" Quentin asked.

Later:

Quentin used his new powers to get home faster. He flew through the window of the room, but turned back to his physical form too early and tripped on the bottom corner. He did a 360 degree flip and just barely landed on his bed. "Well that could have gone better." he said in a very dizzy voice.

*knock knock*

"Hey Quentin, you in there?" said a familiar voice.

His eyes widened and he gasped " _Oh no! I can let him see me like this_ ", he thought.

"Can I come in?"

"Uh...n-not now Uncle Forrest, I'm uh... changing!" he said with worry.

"Well hurry up, I need to talk to you." Forrest said behind the door.

"How do I change back to normal?!" he said silently but worried.

"Press the button on the watch." Terios said.

He pressed the button and all the darkness left his body and he was in his normal clothes again. Terios also appeared in his form from earlier again. "Quick Terios, hide!" he said.

Terios went inside the watch.

"Okay Uncle Forrest, you can come in now!" he called out.

The door opened.

"I heard you disappeared from that science building, Ryker was looking all over for you."

"Well I saw someone get beat up by a robber and went to got help." Quentin lied with honest tone.

"Trying to be one of them heroes, huh?" Forrest questioned. "Those people never get what they deserve."

Quentin didn't understand, "Huh?"

Forrest repeated himself, "The way I see the world, Everyone should get what they deserve. A family living in the street, deserves a hot meal. An insecure college student, deserves to make it home safe at night. But a killer...robber...etc...deserves to spend life behind bars."

"Uncle Forrest, did you just quote Jim Carrey from 'Kick Ass 2'?" Quentin asked with a tone of disappointment.

"That's not important." his uncle responded, "What is important is that those heroes risked their lives to save us, and how do we thank them? By insulting them and treating them like outlaws."

Quentin understood what he meant, "I get it."

"Good, also Ryker wants to talk to you again tomorrow about something he discovered after you left." he told him. "Try not to leave so suddenly this time."

He left the room and closed the door on the way out.

Terios came out of the watch, "Well, that was some speech."

"Actually Terios, he's right about one thing." Quentin said to his midnight shadow companion. "People should get what they deserve, and what they deserve is a hero they can always count on."

"Let me guess, you want me to train you to be a superhero." he responded with a bit of annoyance.

"You bet, besides I already have the costume and the powers." he continued, "I'm going to use this special gift to protect those in need. I'll be every criminals worst nightmare, both figuratively and literally. And I will be Known as...um..."

Quentin noticed a poster on the wall with a character from an old radio show. It was called The Shadow.

"The Shadow, that's it!" Quentin concluded.

"Well Shadow, you should get some rest." Terios told him. "If you want to be a superhero, you need to have as much strength as possible."

"Your right," Quentin responded, "I've been through a lot today anyway."


	4. The Mystery Begins

The Next Morning:

Quentin slept like a rock, but was talking in his sleep. "Uhhhhh...does whatever a..."

His alarm clock goes off, making a ringing noise, and he falls off the bed.

"SPIDER CAN!" he yelled out of fright. He then saw his alarm and turned it off.

"Man, what a day." he said in a tired tone. "Wonder if Ryker can give me more details about his days working with my parents."

He put on a red shirt with black sleeves, and jeans. He then walked downstairs for breakfast. "Morning." he said to his Aunt Tara and Uncle Forrest.

"Morning honey." said Tara. "Glad to see you in good mood this morning...because I made pancakes!"

A few minutes later back in his room, Quentin was trying to find something he could use to fight criminals. Terios came out of his watch and asked Quentin, "What are you doing?"

"I'm looking for enhancers." he answered. "I have to be prepared for danger!"

Terios spoke with annoyance, "You haven't even used all your powers yet, there is nothing to enhance!"

His cellphone started ringing but the caller ID was not shown, the number however was. "Hello?" he asked. It was Ryker.

"Ah Quentin, I was hoping you'd answer." he said. "Especially after you disappeared yesterday. Seriously, what happened to you?"

"Yeah sorry about that, its just that I saw someone getting assaulted and I had to help him." He answered with the same lie he told his uncle.

"Sure, well I have a bit of news that I recently discovered." he replied. "It's got something to do with us loosing the lab."

Quentin's eye widened, "It does? What is it?"

*on Ryker's side, back at the lab*

"I found an old government communicator, and found a recording of some info that may come to a shock to you." he told him in a very concerned tone.

An Hour later:

Quentin came back to the lab to learn more about what Ryker had found. he came through the door and saw Ryker with the communicator.

"So, what does it say?" he asked as he walked towards the table.  
Ryker took out the tape inside and pressed play.

"Clayton's really in to learning this strange creature, but he isn't strong enough to handle it!" said an deep voice.  
"So what do want us to do about it?" asked another voice.  
"I want this lab shut down, and everything in it taken away!" the deep voice answered with anger. "Do all this for me, and I'll pay you a few grands. That idiot Argo, has overshadowed me FOR THE LAST TIME!"

Ryker pressed the fast forward button until he got to a certain point and pressed play again. The sounds of glass breaking and screaming was damaging the speakers.  
"We have the Argos, what shall we do with them?" said someone sounding like they were wearing a gas mask.  
"Spare them, but get them out of that lab and take all their stuff with you." responded the deep voice. "Those fools were no longer be a pain in my ass."  
Ryker stoped playing the tape.

Quentin looked at Ryker with confusion, "What the hell was that?!" he asked.

"Whatever it is, we now now one thing." he responded. "Your parents' lab wasn't taken away from them because of fear of alien contact. Someone paid the United Nations to run them out of the place!"

Quentin's face showed anger and confusion, "Who would do that and why?" he thought.

He then asked, "Ryker. Do you know anyone else my parent's were associated with, and if they felt some sort of jealousy towards them?"

"There were many people that were associated with your parents." he responded as he walked towards the wall. "But non of them would stoop this low, and that voice doesn't help either."

"Well whoever this person is, I'm gonna find him and make him pay." Quentin said to himself, but Ryker heard him.  
"Relax Quentin, this is a job for the authorities." he told him.

"No! Okay, No! This is something I have to do!" he replied with rage, "This man ruined my parent's reputation, and he's still out there!"

He stormed out of the room with Ryker trying to stop him, "Quentin Argo, get back here! It's too dangerous for someone like you!"

Quentin turned his head back and yelled, "YOUR NOT MY FATHER!" he continued walking out of the building.

Ryker watched Quentin walking away from the window with angry eyes, "That boys attitude is gonna get himself killed." he said to himself.

Later, in the city:

Terios talked from the watch, "You really threw a fit back there pal."

"Will you shut up! Someone could here you!" said a fed up Quentin.

"You want to continue your training?" Terios asked.

"You want to know what I want Terios?" he asked sarcastically. "I want to catch the guy who robbed my parents of their research, and give him a peace of my mind!"

"You'll never do it in the state your in now." Terios said. "I think your next lesson will be about combat."

"And how am I supposed to test out my fighting skills when I don't even have an enemy to fight?!" Quentin asked.

He then heard the sound of a window breaking and a security alarm going off. "Never mind." he thought. He ran down the sidewalk to see a jewelry store with glass shards on the floor.

"What happened?" Quentin asked the owner.

"That strange man is getting away with my diamonds!" the owner answered

The man had a Grey and black jumpsuit, huge muscles, large fists, a mullet, and large teeth.

"Alright! My first super villain!" he thought excitingly.

"Quick, into that alleyway!" Terios said.

He ran into the alley to transform, and the owner asks himself, "Where does that boy think he's going?"

Quentin reached the end of the alleyway and made sure there was nobody around. He pressed the face button, releasing Terios to enter his body. His eyes glowed green and was surrounded in a black orb like earlier. The orb disappeared and he was back in his costume. "This will be fun." he said before flying as a purple streak.

People were screaming as they ran for their lives. The man was stomping and punching everything in its path. It heard police sirens and turned around, seeing a row of cops pointing guns at him.

"Hey coppers, Keep away from me, and nobody gets hurt!" yelled the man.

"Freeze!" said one of the cops. "You've done enough damage around here to make a promise like that! Now stand down!"

The man slammed the ground with his fists, "Not happening!"

The ground stared shaking as the cops were starting to loose balance. The man punched each of them until they started bleeding.

The man started breathing heavily.

"You know, what they say pal, the bigger they are, the harder they fall!" said Quentin, standing on a cop car.

"Stay out of this, little man!" the man yelled.

Quentin smirked and said "I would, but I don't just stand around and watch freaks like you wreck my city."

The man was getting more angry, "Do you have any idea who your talking too!?" he yelled.

"Actually no, who are you supposed to be anyways? The Big-toothed Juggernaut?" he jokingly asked.

"You can call me...THE JAWBREAKER!" he roared.

"Well in that case, can you hand me that brief case full of diamonds? They clearly don't belong to you and your scaring everyone." Quentin told him like a smart ass.

Jawbreaker was charging up a punch, "Yeah? Well the only way your gonna get it, is by beating me!" he started charging towards him.

He jumped out of the way and did a classic super hero landing. Jawbreaker then grabbed him and roared in his face.

"You really need to brush!" Quentin said, disgusted by his breath and the look of his large pointy teeth.

He slipped from his grip with his shadow form and slithered away like a snake.

Jawbreaker pointed and yelled at Quentin, "So, you think your funny, huh!? Who are you anyways, runt?!"

"Name's The Shadow" he answered. "And I don't think, I know."

They heard police sirens and saw that more cops arrived. "Hands in the air, Both of you!"

Both of them did, but Jawbreaker was walking backwards trying to escape. Quentin was trying to convince the cops that he was not responsible, "Hello? Good guy, saved your butts!"

Jawbreaker was about to get way, until he suddenly got electrocuted. He was screaming in agony from the pain, but it wasn't burning his skin.

Quentin turned around and thought, "Well, thank goodness for conveniently placed electrified water puddles."

Jawbreaker fainted from the shock, and smoke was coming from his body.

"Sorry to be rude, but I'm out of here!" Quentin disappeared in a puff of smoke.

One cop looked at another, "Who was that guy?", he just shrugged his shoulder.

Quentin reappeared at the jewelry store with the briefcase. "Here you go sir. Wish I could stay but I need to get home." he said as he flew away in a purple fireball, leaving a streak behind.

The jewelry store owner waved his hand, "Thank you masked avenger!"

Quentin returned to the alleyway with Terios leaving his body, transforming him back into his regular clothes.

"This just keeps getting better and better!", Quentin said with a lot of energy.

"Don't let it get to your head." Terios interrupted. "Your fighting skills are developing, but you need more time."

"Of course." Quentin responded. "And then I'l be one more step closer to finding the guy who ruined my parents life!"

He heard more cop cars coming, most likely to capture Jawbreaker. "That reminds me, I need to get home!" he said as he ran off.


	5. A Cold Shoulder

After a while of running, Quentin finally made it back to his aunt and uncle's house.

He walked through the front door, "I'm home!", he called out.

"Quentin!" Tara said, "We haven't seen you all day, where were you?"

"Well let's see, I learned the real reason why the United Nations shut down my parents' lab, had a huge disagreement with Ryker," he said bluntly, "and to top it all off, I had to escape from hulking beast."

"You mean like that one?" Forrest asked as he pointed at the TV. The news was showing footage of Quentin as The Shadow, fighting the Jawbreaker.

The News Anchor says, "Our top story tonight, 2 meta-humans were seen in the downtown area fighting. One of them was dressed like that one character from 'South Park' while the other looked like Arnold Schwarzenegger on steroids. The former flew away and currently remains unidentified, but the latter was identified as 34 year old, Jamie Brooker, who attempted to steal a briefcase full of diamonds. Brooker is now being sent to the holding facility that the heroes had previously been held prior to the doominoid invasion. Where he will be experimented on, in order to find the origins of his powers. More on this story tonight."

Tara looked a bit annoyed, "Great, just what we need." she said, "More meta-freaks destroying the city!"

"Aunt Tara, you do realize that only one of them was destroying the city, and the other was protecting." Quentin asked, "Right?"

"He's got a point there, dear." said Forrest, "Wait, did you actually see that thing?"

Quentin knew that if continued lying to his family, they would be furious with him. But he had to do it to keep them safe. "Yes, but I managed to hide in an alleyway for most of the rampage," he said. "and I got a glimpse of that superhero."

He was about to go down to his basement lab until, "Wait, don't you want your dinner?" said Forrest.

"Not hungry." he responded anxiously. "Besides, I need to examine something." he walked downstairs and turned on the lights.

Terios came out of Quentin's watch and asked, "So what are you gonna do now?"

"Hypothesize the contents of this." he answered as he pulled the tape from the communicator out of his pocket.

"You stole the tape!?" he asked in shock, "Ryker will kill you if he finds out!"

"Relax!" Quentin said, "I'm not keeping it, i'm just going to convert the recordings to the computer, and return it."

He spend a few minutes transferring audio to the computer, and successfully gets it all in there. He starts playing with the audio to make it sound more recognizable. But after a while, he began to call it quits

"No matter the pitch, I still can't find a normal voice!" Quentin said as he banged his head on the table in shame.

"Hey Quentin, you want to eat your dinner down here?" asked Forrest from the staircase.

"Not now Uncle Forrest...I'm not in the mood." Quentin said in a depressed tone.

He didn't know what to say to his nephew, and left the plate on a nearby table.

The Next Morning:

Forrest and Tara walk down stairs for breakfast, but wait for Quentin.

"Forrest." said Tara.  
"Yeah." he responded.  
"Where's our nephew?" she asked, "He wasn't in his room."  
"Well that's funny," he said, "last time I saw him he was in the basement."

They both turn their heads to the basement door.

"Quentin?" Forrest called out.

Quentin had his head on the table with bags under his eyes.

"I know how to handle this." Forrest said as he grabbed a pancake. He lifted his nephew's head up a bit, placed the pancake underneath, and put his head down face first.

"Wait for it." he said as he counted down to 3 with his figures.

"*gasp*, I'm pancake!" Quentin said with surprise, and then blushed from embarrassment. "I mean 'awake', heh."

"Have you been down here all night?" has aunt asked with concern.

"I couldn't help myself, I was hoping to crack this case with ease." he said, "But instead, I got nothing."

"Now what in the hell were you trying to solve?" his uncle asked.

Quentin sighed, "Listen to this." he said as he clicked play on the audio editing software:

"Clayton's really in to learning this strange creature, but he isn't strong enough to handle it!" said an deep voice.  
"So what do want us to do about it?" asked another voice.  
"I want this lab shut down, and everything in it taken away!" the deep voice answered with anger. "Do all this for me, and I'll pay you a few grands. That idiot Argo, has overshadowed me FOR THE LAST TIME!"

"And this." he switched to the second clip.

"We have the Argos, what shall we do with them?" said someone sounding like they were wearing a gas mask.  
"Spare them, but get them out of that lab and take all their stuff with you." responded the deep voice. "Those fools were no longer be a pain in my ass!"

His aunt and uncle were both in shock. "What was that?" Tara asked in shock.

Quentin explained, "Old recordings from a government communicator, from the day Mom and Dad lost their lab."

"You saying that..." Forrest was about to ask before getting cut off by Quentin.

"Yes." Quentin interrupted, "The United Nations lied about the reason why they took everything. Someone hired them to do it, and I'm gonna find out who!"

"I love the enthusiasm, honey," Tara said, "but you'll have more than enough time to do that after your orientation!"

Quentin's eyes widened in surprise, "Orientation?! For what!?" he asked angrily.

"Like I said, your going to school, and I am not taking no for an answer." his aunt said demandingly, "Now march up those stairs and shower, you stink!"

After an Hour of Preparation:

The family was driving to the first on the list of high school. Quentin was not alright with this. " _This is bull crap! I should be out there, finding the guy!_ " he thought.

However, things went pretty well with the orientation. Quentin saw a mix of people he could see himself hanging out with, people he could care less about, etc.

"I honestly don't know how to feel about this." he said to Terios.  
"Well I honestly think I know what your aunt was taking about." Terios replied, "You spend too much time on your own. You need to get out more."  
"Backstabber!" he responded.

On the other side of the room, there were 3 girls standing by the window:

One of them had long jet-black hair, teal eyes, gaged ears, freckles, and wore a dark purple hoodie, and ripped leggings.

another had short bright brown hair, blue eyes, and wore a yellow dress.

Finally, the last one had bright blond hair with a blue highlight, green eyes, also had freckles, and she wore a grey beanie, a jean jacket, an orange shirt, and black sweat pants. Her name was Lana.

"You guys here about the meta-human attack yesterday?" asked one of them.  
"Yeah, the giant guy really left some damage." Lana responded.  
"That caped man looked really cool though, you can't deny that." the other added.

They saw Quentin communicating with Terios.

"Is that guy talking to his watch?" one of them asked.  
"Hey, I know him!" another said with surprise.  
"You do?" Lana asked.

"Yeah, he's the son of those scientists who died during the invasion." she explained.

"How did you know that?" the dark haired girl asked.

"They found him unconscious around the crash site of the meteor." said the short haired one.

"He's kinda cute." Lana said, giving a slight blush.

"What was that?" the short haired girl asked as she got close to Lana. "Nothing!" she responded.

In a Different Room:

"If something interesting doesn't happen soon, I'm gonna snap!" Quentin said with irritation.  
"Define interesting?" asked Terios.  
"Oh, I don't know, maybe a new villain to fight!" he answered.  
"You just fought one yesterday," he explained, "You can't expect a new threat just from asking for one!"

He heard screaming from the other side of the door. Quentin went to check, and he saw a man with armour made of ice.

" _Who's this freak?_ " he thought.

The man left the building to terrorize the city.

"Looks like it's time for a little action!"

Quentin closed the door and transformed into The Shadow. As he opened the door he found some people frozen in blocks of ice.

"Guess this new guy likes it cold." Quentin jokingly said as he turned into his 'shadow' form to sneak over to him.

"People here need to chill." the man said as he froze a couple on a bench.

"Ice puns, Really?" Quentin said from behind, "Mr. Freeze called, and he wants his shtick back."

"You're that hero who took out the Jawbreaker yesterday, aren't you?" the man asked.

"Got that right, pal." Quentin answered, "and you are?"

"I am the Incredibly Cold Exterminator" he said, "or short, I.C.E."

"How clever." Quentin said.

"Surrender or be frozen!" said I.C.E.

"Not happening Frosty!" he said as he jumped down for a drop kick.


	6. ICE ICE Baby

The College is wrecked, and somewhat frozen from the I.C.E.

Quentin's drop kick missed, but he managed to land on his feet.

I.C.E. laughed and grabbed Quentin's leg, "Your gonna have to do better than that if you wanna stop me!" he said as he hung him upside down.

"Jesus, your hands are cold!", Quentin yelled as I.C.E. tightened his grip. "Why are you doing this!?"

"I have no reason to explain my actions to the likes of you!" I.C.E. said in Quentin's face. "Now, stay out of my way!"

Quentin kicked I.C.E. in the face with his free leg, allowing his to get free from his cold grip.

"GAAAH!", I.C.E. yelled from the kick.

Quentin used this opportunity to turn into his spirit form and get to temporary safety.

"That's right, you better fly away!" I.C.E. yelled, watching him escape. "Now, time to fulfill my mission."

He started walking towards the city, leaving frozen footprints with every step.

Lana was hiding behind a peace of wreckage, "How on earth is he gonna stop him?" She asked herself.

Quentin returned to landed on a close building. "That guys got issues."  
He tried walking but he felt some pain in his ankle, "Ah.", he looked down at his leg and noticed it was frozen in the lower half.  
" _Seriously, ow_!" he thought. "Now how am I gonna stoop him?"

I.C.E. shot icicles out of his hands that froze anything that they touched. People everywhere screamed in terror as they tried avoiding the icicles.

Back on the building, Quentin was having trouble turning back into his spirit form.

"Why is nothing working?" he asked in shock.

"We midnight shadows hate extreme temperatures." Terios explained.

"And your only telling me this now!?" Quentin asked furiously.

He hears the sound of screaming from down below. "Terios, the people need me, DO SOMETHING!"

"Try that fireball technique from earlier." he replied.

"You never told me how I did that!" He said.

He then remembered doing it the first time through flashback.

"Wait, I think I got it." he said as he opened his right palm. He managed to make a purple fireball appear. "Yes!"

He grabbed his right leg where it was frozen and melted it. "Now that's more like it!" he said as he ran and jumped off the building.

"And now its time to find Captain Cold!" said Quentin.

"I thought his name was The I.C.E.?" Terios asked.

"It's a joke, look it up!" he answered.

He started flying in his spirit form again, and chased down I.C.E.

A whole quarter of the city was covered in ice. "Once I turn this place into a winter wonderland, I'l' finally be normal again." said I.C.E. as he looked over his surroundings.

"Well sorry to say Olaf, but winter is not for a few months!" Quentin said while sitting on a lamp post. "Also, what do mean by 'normal again'?"

"Grrrr...Not you again!" yelled I.C.E., "I told you to stay out of my way!"

"Yeah, you did." Quentin said with a cocky smile on his face, "But here's the thing, I don't take orders from bad guys."

I.C.E. was getting more angry, "Well, you will be once I turn you into an ice cream sundae! And once I'm rid of you, I will finally get my life back!"

Quentin's eyes widened from the context of what I.C.E. just said.

"Finally get your life back?" he asked and pointed to his cold foe, "Wait a minute, you didn't do this to yourself! Someone made you do into this."  
"That's right!" said I.C.E., "And I will do what I must to become normal again!" he throws a set of icicles at Quentin, but he turns into his spirit form and dodges each of them.

He keeps throwing icicles but Quentin is just too quick for him in his spirit form.

Quentin then appeared behind him and punched him. "Aw, Son of a..." he yelled from the pain, "Sounds like you've never punched ice before." laughed I.C.E. He then punched Quentin and sent him flying into a wall.

"Had enough?" asked I.C.E.

"Not even close!" he responded and launched himself towards him.

Quentin landed on I.C.E.'s back and put him in a headlock. "Who do you work for!?" he asked.

I.C.E. tried to keep his mouth closed but he knew he would suffocate if he didn't spill the beans. "Someone's creating an army of Meta-humans to take control of the country!" he answered, "He'll do anything to make sure were on his side, even threatening our families. He went so far as to force a family of scientists to shut down their research!"

Quentin let go and jumped in front of I.C.E. "Who is he?!" he asked.

"Nobody knows," I.C.E. answered, "other than he uses the codename, 'Darkmatter!'"

"Where is he!?" Quentin asked with his fist clenched. "Tell me where he is!"

"I would, but you won't be alive to find him!" I.C.E. said with rage and throwing a giant icicle.

Quentin used his shadow form to escape and get under I.C.E. with ease. "Please I.C.E., I can help you!"

"There's nothing you can do to help me!" he yelled.

"Hold it right there!" said a voice from behind. It was a group of cops with flamethrowers. "Don't move or we'll melt you!"

"Hold on, officers!" Quentin called out, "He's being forced to do this."

"Silence, you hooded vigilante!" the cop yelled, "Once were done with this snowman, your coming with us!"

Knowing he was in trouble, Quentin was quick to bail, "In that case, see ya!" he said as his flew away.

I.C.E. called out to The Shadow "Hey, where you goin...AAAAAAHHHH" he asked and then screamed from the fire of the flamethrowers.

Quentin tried not to look back, but he could hear I.C.E. screaming in agony.

Later Back at Home:

Quentin was back in his regular clothes and watching the news report about his battle with I.C.E.

The news anchor on the TV says, "Downtown is still frozen from the attack from earlier. The criminal responsible for all the frozen chaos was identified as Dominic White, who was thought to be dead after he was accidentally locked in a freezer for 7 hours. White was seen in a body of armour made of ice, freezing everything in sight. The meta-human who fought Jamie Brooker yesterday was seen again today fighting White and..." Quentin turned the TV off before the reporter finished his sentence.

"Why the long face, Q?" Terios asked. "You beat that guy."

"Yeah, but..." Quentin responded, "He didn't seem all that bad, he only did what he did because he wanted to be his regular self again."

Terios was confused, "But he tried to freeze the city." he said.

"Like I said, he just wanted whoever did this to him to change him back." he repeated. "I just hope that they can help him."

He then remembered what I.C.E. told him,

" _He'll do anything to make sure were on his side, even threatening our families. He went so far as to force a family of scientists to shut down their research! He uses the codename, 'Darkmatter!_ '" he thought.

"One good thing did come out of that battle though." Quentin said.  
"Figuring out how to use your dark fireballs?" Terios asked.  
"No!", Quentin yelled, "We now know the 'name' of the guy who ruined my parents' life."

They proceeded to the basement lab, and turned the computer on. "Let's see if there's anything known about this 'Darkmatter' character." Quentin said to Terios and himself. after a Google search, they get no results.

"Well, there's nothing." Terios stated.  
"It doesn't matter, his name is enough for now." said Quentin, "We can go see Ryker tomorrow, he could help us."  
"You think he's gonna want to see you after your little tantrum?" Terios asked bluntly.

"He will." Quentin answered, "If we explain what we learned, he'll give us all the help we need. I'll make whoever this Darkmatter character is pay for what he did!"

"Well don't stay up all night," Terios said as he went back into Quentin's watch, "You won't find this guy if your in the same state you were in last time."


	7. Who is Darkmatter?

The Next Day at The Lab:

Quentin told Ryker what I.C.E. said about Darkmatter, he was quite surprised.

"Hmm.." Ryker thought out loud with his finger under his chin, "...and why did he tell you all this stuff? Did he know you?" he asked.

"Actually, someone told me after he told them." Quentin answered, "You know about that hero who fought him and that jawbreaker guy? Right?"

"You kidding me, Quentin," Ryker said with tired tone, "none of my co-workers will shut up about him!"

"He calls himself The Shadow," Quentin said, "and he says that I.C.E. was forced to do what he did by the exact same person from the communicator recordings."

Ryker began to think out loud, "What could this Darkmatter guy possibly want?"

"I have no idea, but he obviously would make people miserable in order to get what he wants!" Quentin answered with a bit of anger.

"Actually Quentin, about that Shadow character..." Ryker asked, "Did you notice that his powers are very similar to that of a midnight shadow?"

"No!" he said scared. "I mean, no I did not know that."

The two heard the door knock.

As the door opened, one of the technicians said urgently, "Dr. Mooney! The police found something!"

"What is it?" Ryker asked.  
The technician revealed a piece of I.C.E.'s armour.

She handed it to Ryker.

Quentin recognized the armour, " _I.C.E., what did they do to you!?_ " he thought with fright.

"This was part of the special ice suit that was stolen!" Ryker realized, "It even still has the company logo on it." it was a giant "M" with the word laboratories at the bottom.

Quentin was surprised, "Hold on, You built I.C.E.'s suit!?" he asked.

"It was made for desert survival, but it was stolen while you were in your coma." Ryker answered. "Actually, now that I think about it, a lot of my tech was stolen that day."

"And I think we have a good idea who stole it." Quentin added, "Darkmatter."

Hours Later:

Quentin was back in his basement lab, trying once again to figure out who Darkmatter is.

"I never should have left him like that!" Quentin said, "I should have taken him somewhere to help get his powers fixed, and now he's probably dead or suffering in prison!"

Terios tried to cheer him up, "You would of been arrested if you didn't get out of there."

"That's still not a reason to leave someone behind!" Quentin said. "Besides, he knows more about Darkmatter than anyone else we know."

"Wait." he continued, "What did that news report say his name was?"

"Dominic White." said an unfamiliar voice.

Quentin turned around and saw the blonde girl from the orientation.

"Who are you and how did you get in my house!?" Quentin asked with fury and confusion.

"Your aunt and uncle let me in, and my name is Lana Mooney." she answered.

"Wait, like Ryker Mooney?" Quentin asked.

"Yup, i'm his niece." Lana answered, "and he wanted me to meet you."

"Why?" he asked again.

"Because I'm just as into science as you!" she answered annoyed by the multiple questions, "Also because I saw you at orientation."

Quentin turned to her and said, "I didn't see you there, but probably because I didn't talk to that many people there."

"Let me guess, spent your whole life homeschooled?" she asked.

Quentin's eyes widened, "How did you know that!?" he asked.

"Because you spend all day in a basement, and refuse to interact with the outside world." Lana answered bluntly.

"You sound like my aunt!" Quentin said.

"Thank you, but I CAN be of assistance!" Lana explained.

Quentin looked under his desk for tools and asked, "What could you possibly know that could help me?" and as he was about to grab a tool.

Lana sat in the nearest chair and said, "I'll tell you if you give me a chance...Shadow."

Quentin jumped from surprise and hit his head on the bottom of his desk. As he crawled out from underneath, "How!?"

"I saw you talk to your watch at orientation, plus you were just talking to your midnight shadow friend." Lana answered.

"So, does that mean-" Quentin was about to ask if Ryker knew he was The Shadow but was cut off by Lana, "Relax, my uncle doesn't know!"

Quentin sighed with relief, "So, I'm guessing you want to help me find Darkmatter?" he asked, "Because I need as much help as possible, and I need to find I.C.E."

Lana grabbed his shoulder, "I'm just the person you're looking for." she said, "I'll be your Oracle."

"Alright then, but in that case try to stay out of wheelchairs like the actual Oracle." Quentin jokingly said.

Lana raised an eyebrow.

"Sorry." Quentin said, "But where could they have taken I.C.E?"

Lana took her hand off of Quentin's shoulder, and said "The only place I can think of is the holding facility where the other heroes were held, but nobody knows where it is."

Quentin realizes that Ryker said that a bunch of his tech was stolen. "If Darkmatter has your uncle's tech, he might be using it to create meta humans like Jawbreaker and I.C.E." he says, "So we can wait until he unleashes another one, and we'll get that one to talk."

"Get who to talk?" said a familiar voice.

"Uncle Ryker, how long have you been standing there?" asked Lana.

"Not long, but I see you and Quentin are getting along just fine." he answered. "Now come with me, your parents want me watching you at all times."

"Fine," she responded, "but I can come back soon, right?"

"Of course," Ryker said as he walked with his niece up stairs, "Quentin here, is like family."

The two of them went inside a limousine and left, with Lana looking back at Quentin's house.  
"What's the matter, sweetie?" Ryker asked.  
"There's something about Quentin that feels..." Lana was trying to think of an answer, "Special."

Ryker smiled, "You know, that's exactly what I thought when I first met him." he said, "He's got something that i'm looking for in people."  
"And what would that be?" Lana asked.  
"Anticipation..." Ryker answered.

The Next Morning (after breakfast):

"So champ, what do you got planned for the day?" Forrest asked.

"I'm further investigating the identity of Darkmatter." Quentin answered.

"And who is this "Darkmatter"?" Tara asked while putting dishes in the sink.

Quentin got off his chair and answered, "The codename of the guy who stole Mom and Dad's research."

"Your still going on about that?" Tara asked annoyed, "When are you gonna get over that?!"

"Aunt Tara, are you seriously asking me that question when our family was robbed of its greatness!?" Quentin asked back angrily. "Besides, I've almost collected enough info to find him!"

"It's too dangerous for someone like you!" Tara yelled.

"YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT I CAN DO!" Quentin yelled back.

*Scratching chalkboard sound*

Quentin and his aunt cover their ears until it stops. It was Forrest scratching one of the dishes. "Enough you two! I will not have these types of conversations in my house!" he yelled.

Quentin and Tara just stared at him. "Quentin, you go either to your room or your lab, and continue whatever you were doing!" Forrest told his nephew.

Quentin didn't question his uncle's demands and just when strait to the basement, "Um, sure thing, Uncle Forrest." he said before doing so.

"And as for you, honey," he told to Tara, "come with me!" the walked upstairs.

"Why are you encouraging him?" Tara asked.  
"He's young, and wants to restore our family's honour!"  
"He's too young to do any of this!" Tara responded, "He should be at school, like a regular boy!"  
"He tried doing that, and it only put him in even more danger!" Forrest yelled.  
"That was just bad luck, and you know it!" Tara yelled back.

Quentin could hear them arguing from the basement, but only loud mumbling.

He sighed, "I almost forgot what this was like." he said as he remembered the occasional argument that his parents had with him or each other.

"Hey, it could be worse!" Terios said.

Quentin got up from his chair and said "I honestly don't see how it can get any worse."

They heard knocking coming from the other side of the room. " _Since when was there a second door in the basement?_ " Quentin thought.

He walked over and opened it, and it was Lana.  
"You again?" Quentin asked.

"I told you i want to help you find Darkmatter," Lana said, "and that's exactly what I'm gonna do."

"I'm assuming Ryker dropped you off here?" Quentin asked.

"Yup," Lana answered, "I told him we were gonna work on a special project, and he believed me."

Quentin got back in his chair and said , "Great, only problem is we don't know when another meta-human will attack."

Lana took her phone out and said, "Actually, we do." she held her phone showing a picture of a what looked like a half man, half lion with long claws on his fingers.

"Who in the world is that?" Quentin asked, "He looks like an abomination of nature."

"He was seen earlier, attacking pet owners and poachers." Lana explained, "The surviving victims told the authorities that his name is Slash-claw."

"First an armour made of ice, and now a wild human, animal hybrid," Quentin complained, "Where does Ryker get the money for all this stuff?!"

Lana shrugged her shoulders, "He nobody knows," she answered, "But what I do know is that you have to stop this guy!"

Quentin nodded, "Your right, lets go Terios!" he said.

Terios came out of the watch and said, "Gotcha!"

He entered Quentin's body and transformed him once again into The Shadow.

"Lets go tame this lion!" he said before turning into his spirit form and flying out of his house.


	8. Giant Lion Man

Later, Downtown:

The city is being torn apart once again, and it hasn't even been a week since the first attack from Jawbreaker and I.C.E., With this being the third meta human attack in less than a week, citizens are feeling even more insecure by the minute.

Quentin finally arrived, hiding on a nearby building.

"Can't believe the chaos that Darkmatter's meta humans have brought upon this beautiful city!" he said, "On the bright side, this next meta could be the key to finding the holding facility." he jumped down to get a better look. When he landed, he saw cars and windows with huge claw marks on them.

"Whoa, would not want to meet the cat who made those!" Quentin thought out loud.

"You do realize that the 'cat' who made those is who were after!?" Terios asked, "RIGHT!?"

"Of course! You really need a sense of humour!" Quentin told his partner.

He then jumped back from surprise when he heard a loud "ROOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAARRRRRRR!"

"I think we found our 'cat'." Terios said.

Suddenly, something pounced at a nearby car. It was the human-lion man that Lana showed on her phone.

"So that's Slash-claw?" Quentin asked himself, "I'd like to see him have a wrestling match with Sabertooth."

"Who's Sabertooth?" Terios asked.

Quentin face palmed, "Nevermind." he said, "Let's just take care of this lion!" he turned into his spirit form and flew closer.

Slash-claw was closing in on an old lady with a kitten in her purse. He was getting close to her, like a predator stalking its prey, until.

"Hey fur-ball!" Quentin called out, "This city is not your jungle, so scram!"

"Rrrrrrr...Nobody tells Slash-claw what to do!" he yelled, "I'll hunt down and pray on all humans who have enslaved animal kind!"

"You mean like pet owners and zoo keepers?" Quentin asked.

"Precisely!" Slash-claw yelled, "I shall unleash the call of the wild, and make this city my new kingdom! Ah ha ha ha ha!"

"Really, well, you can do that after you tell me about a guy named Darkmatter," Quentin told him sarcastically, "As well as the location of the Montreal holding facility."

Slash-claw jumped and attempted to maul Quentin but he jumped out of the way.

"What you ask of me is not going to be answered you damn dirty human!" yelled Slash-claw, "Now, step aside!"

"Listen to me Slash," Quentin said, "Darkmatter is only using you to destroy the city! Once you're done, he'll just lock you up again or leave you to be arrested! That's what happened with the last guy!"

"I.C.E. was a fool!" Slash-claw said as he jumped onto the sign of a short building, "He saw his powers as a curse rather than a gift. And now he continues to suffer with the others!"

"How many more meta humans are there!?" Quentin yelled, "And where are they coming from!?" he clenched his fists.

"There is nothing you can do to make me talk!" Slash-claw said as he roars a mighty roar.

"This could be a while..." Quentin said to himself.

Meanwhile at his house:

Lana turned the TV on in the kitchen, where the news was broadcasting the fight between The Shadow and Slash-claw. " _I really hope he doesn't get too hurt..._ " she thought.

"Hey there Lana, whatcha doing here?" said a voice from behind, making her slightly jump. It was just Forrest.

"Oh hi Forrest!" said Lana, "Um, aren't you supposed to be at work?"

"I'm not working today," said Forrest, "I have to take care of something. Wait a minute, where's Quentin?"

Lana's started sweating from thinking of what to answer. "Um..." she said with a guilty smile, "...the bathroom."

"Sure." he responded, "Well tell him I'll be outside if he needs me!"

Lana waved "Okay," she then sighed and wiped her forehead, "Phew, I thought for sure I was gonna blow his cover. Huh?" she saw on the TV that the fight move from the city to a public park.

Quentin yelled out to the citizens, "Everyone get out of here, there's a giant lion coming!"

Everyone grabbed their children, screamed and ran out of there.

"Here kitty kitty!" Quentin taunted.

Slash-claw jumped out of a bush and roared.

"Tell me where the facility is, and we can call it quits." Quentin said.

"I told you there is nothing you can do to make me talk!" Slash-claw yelled. He then pounced at Quentin and held him down. "You better get comfy, cause your about to experience the most disturbing part of nature documentaries!"

"The mating part!?" Quentin asked, scared.

"No!" Slash-claw answered. "The part where the deadly lion rips his prey apart and eats their remains!"

As Slash-claw laughs at his own joke, Quentin noticed an glowing amulet hanging from his neck, " _That must be the source of his powers!_ " he thought.  
He turned into his spirit form to escape and grabbed Slash-claw's amulet. "Mind if I barrow this?" he asked jokingly and ripped it from him.

"Wait, what are you doing!?" Slash-claw asked as he saw his amulet under Quentin's boot.

Quentin stomps on the amulet and breaks it to peaces.

Slash-claw yells in defeat as he starts loosing hair and becoming more human than lion. "NNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

He was just a man wearing nothing but underwear. Quentin grabbed him and they flew to the top of a building.

"What do you want from me?!" the now human Slash-claw asked scared.

"A mad man is stealing Mooney laboratory technology, robbed an innocent scientist couple of their work, imprisoning innocent people, and turning them into walking weapons!" Quentin yelled in his face, "That mad man is your boss! WHERE IS HE?!"

"I can't tell you that, he'll kill me." Slash-claw answered.

"What makes you think I won't!?" Quentin asked menacingly and pretended to drop him.

"AAAHHHHH!" the man screamed. "OK, OK, He's probably in his lab in that facility you asked about, he's been using the prisoners for his experiments, it's somewhere near the edge of the island, That all I know, really!"

"Thanks." Quentin said as he teleported the guy in front of a bunch of cops and teleported back home.

"That was a bit much don't you think?!" Terios asked angrily.

"Trust me Terios," Quentin said, "desperate calls call for desperate measures. Besides, I wasn't gonna kill him for real!"

They arrive back to the basement. "Hey, where did Lana go?" Quentin asked, "She was supposed to watch the place."

He walked upstairs, back in his regular clothing. "I thought you were done for!" Lana said, "How'd you beat him?"

"He had a magic amulet around his neck." Quentin answered, "I broke it and turned him human again, and I have the location of the facility!"

"Great!" Lana cheered, "We better look for it on Google maps to see how far it is!"

"Alrighty then, lead the way!" Quentin said.

A Few Minutes Later:

Quentin is lying around while Lana tries to locate the facility. "Did you find it?" he asks in a tired tone.

"Almost," Lana answers as she approaches it, "Found it! Does your watch have a GPS on it?"

"Terios?" Quentin asks.

"Sure do!" he answers.

"Great!" Quentin said, "Wanna come with me this time?" he asks.

Lana is surprised by Quentin's question, "It's kinda dangerous, don't you think?" she asks.

"Don't worry, we can communicate from a short distance of facility property." Quentin answered, "We can use these walkie talkies that Darkmatter used when he stole the research."

"There's actually something I wanted to tell you, Quentin." Lana said.

"What is it?" he asked.

"My father taught me to be a hacker." she answered, "I can use my laptop to hack into the security cameras and guide you through the place!"

"That's great, but I don't know why you are only telling me this now." Quentin told her.

"Well what are we waiting for?" Lana asked excitingly, "Let's go after them!"

Quentin transformed back into The Shadow, grabbed Lana and flew away to the facility.

After a few minutes of flying, they finally arrive with the holding facility in the distance.

"There it is!" Lana said. "Ground zero of the battle between the heroes and the doominoids."

Quentin had an angry look on his face, "...And Darkmatter's secret hideout." he said. "The security will be everywhere, you stay here and contact me!"

"But these walkie talkies are old and might not work anymore." Lana said.

Terios had an idea, "Wait, I think I might know an easier way of communicating!" he said and made Quentin's arm reach out to grab Lana's walkie talkie. It started to disintegrate, "Well great, now how are we supposed to communicate?!" Quentin asked angrily.

"Put 2 of your fingers up to your ear." Terios explained to Quentin, and he did so. "Alright Lana, speak into the walkie talkie."

She did what Terios told and she said, "Testing...testing...1...2...3..."

Quentin's eyes widened, "Holy crap, I can actually hear you!" he said, "This is a way more convenient way!"

"You better get going before someone spots us!" Lana said.

"You right!" Quentin said back, "Let's go!"


	9. Operation: Darkmatter

Quentin turned into his spirit form in order to avoid being spotted by the guards and security cameras.

"Crap, their packing heat!" he said as quietly as possible, "This won't be easy."

"Can't you just go through the wall?" Terios asked.

"I'm pretty sure that this is packed with special security, made for meta human captivity!" Quentin argued, "This is the kind of prison that makes sure no one gets out alive, or in this case in."

Quentin started hearing static noises in his ear. "How's it over there Quentin?" Lana asked.

"I found a way in, there's some sort of gate fence," Quentin answered, "but its guarded by two guys with guns."

"There's a security camera where they are!" Lana told, "Try taking out the guards after I hack into the camera and have it look away!"

"Okay, but make it quick," Quentin said, "It won't be long until they realize someone's here!"

"Copy that!" Lana replied as she began the process of hacking into the security camera.

Quentin took a look at the guards, they were wearing army attire, special goggles, and guns. They stood still on each side of the door, making sure noting would get pass them. Thankfully Quentin was hiding behind a thick poll on the far right.

"I got it!" Lana cheered as she made the cameras move at an angle, with nothing but the ceiling in its site.

Quentin turned into a shadow and slithered like a snake, where he eventually came into the form of a black shadowy figure like earlier. He tiptoed, pink panther style behind the guards, came out of the ground and made them but heads.

The impact knocked them out, and made them drop their guns.

"Better get rid of these!" Quentin grabbed the guns and threw them down a manhole.

He tried opening the door but it wouldn't budge.

"Damn it!" Quentin said, "It's locked! But maybe..."

He checked the guards' pockets for a key, and he managed to find one. He unlocked the door

Quentin held his fingers to his ear, "Alright Lana, I'm inside the facility. What's it like inside the different buildings?"

Lana hacked into a few of the cameras on that floor to see what Quentin should watch out for, "Thankfully, number of guards in the hallways is low, but the more cameras there are, the higher the chances of you getting caught."

"Well that sounds fun!" Quentin stated sarcastically, "But what about I.C.E.? Can you find which building their holding him in?"

"I'll try, but it will take a while." she answered, "Jump onto the one in front of you and stay in the shadows(no pun intended), we don't want you to get caught this soon."

"Of course!" Quentin said as he used his spirit form to fly onto the first building.

" _Once I find and defeat Darkmatter, I can steal back both Ryker's tech AND my parents' research!_ " he thought.

"I found him!" Lana cheered, "He's in the one at the far end thats taller on the left side than the right. While you sneak your way in there, i'll look for wherever Darkmatter is hiding!"

Quentin smirked, "Sounds good to me!", He flew in his spirit form again to get there fast, and was able to get past the guards without noticing. But once he was inside he saw a hallway full of cameras. Thankfully, he flew up to the ceiling to avoid detection.

"This could work!" he said to himself as he started moving down the hall. There were many twists and turns, but he managed to find the right room.

"This is it." Quentin said as he opened the door, to see a giant prison full of meta humans with different powers. There was one who could melt them self, one with fire on its back, one with shrinking abilities, etc. Jawbreaker was there too, but Quentin made sure to not even make eye contact with him.

"So many innocent people, turned into..." Quentin paused for a few seconds, "...monsters! Killing machines!"

"May I remind you who your talking to?" Terios interupted, "Your possessed by an alien."

Quentin was annoyed by Terios, "I was talking to myself, besides I'm in full control of myself. And since you are inside my body, others think I'm talking to myself!"

Quentin noticed some mist coming from nearby cell. It approached him and he started shivering.

"Brrr...I...t-think...w-w-we..f-found..him", he stuttered from the cold. He ran towards the cell, and there he was.

I.C.E. was on his bed, curled up.

Quentin banged on the glass and called out, "I.C.E.!"

I.C.E. got up from his bed and walked over to the glass. "What the...you again!?" he asked, "What are you doing here?!"

"I came to rescue you!" Quentin answered.

"Really?" I.C.E. asked.

"That, and take down the madman who put you in here!" Quentin answered again. "I see you still have your armour over there!"

I.C.E. looked over to his armour and said, "Yes, but It doesn't work in these cells, and the glass they use is indestructible from the inside."

"If that's the case, I'll just break it from the outside." Quentin was ready to kick the glass.

"Don't!" I.C.E. yelled, "It will trigger the alarms!"

"Oh for god's sake!", Quentin used his spirit form to get into the cell grab I.C.E. and his armour, and get out. However, 3 guards showed up and pointed their guns at them.

"HALT!", said one of them.

"We can't," I.C.E. told them as he threw icicles at all of them and froze them, "cause we don't want to!"

"Good one!" Quentin said to him.

"But why did you come back for me?" he asked, "I nearly turned the city into that one Disney movie!"

"Because you were forced to harm others," Quentin answered, "You didn't want to cause chaos, you just wanted to be normal again. Now how would ya like to give Darkmatter a little payback?!"

"I'll turn him into a popsicle!" I.C.E. answered, "Let's go!"

Unfortunately, the other guards in the room started coming for them.

The Shadow and The I.C.E. proceeded to the other side of the building, fighting off many guards and escaped meta humans.

"Hey Lana, you still read me?" Quentin asked.

"Loud and clear!" she answered, "I saw on the cameras that you rescued I.C.E."

"Who are you talking to?" I.C.E. asked as he threw another icicle at one of the guards.

"Let's just say a very special girl." Quentin answered.

"Yeah...sure." he responded.

Quentin continued contacting with Lana, "Did you find Darkmatter?"

"He's in one of the V shaped buildings" she answered, "More specifically the one of the left hand side!"

"Okay then, let's get going!" he told I.C.E.

They busted through the doors and proceeded to the building. Suddenly a dark demonic voice spoke over the intercom, "Attention Guards, a strange meta human has broken into the facility, and let that frozen one escape! Find them! NOW!"

"Crap, their onto us, what do we do?!" I.C.E. asked as he and Shadow ran for the building. But an small army of guards show up. They aim their guns at them.

"Now," Quentin said as he got into a battle position, "We fight!"

 **(The Flash CW theme plays)**

"Freeze! Both of you!" one of the guards said.

"That's my line, pal!" I.C.E. said as he began throwing multiple icicles. All of them hit the guards and froze them.

"Now its my turn!" Quentin said as he turned into his spirit form and flew through the guards.

He used his black fire balls to attack, his aim was slightly off, and only hit 4 of them.

The guards continued firing at him, but he used his spirit form to dodge each of them.

"Your gonna have to do better than that!" Quentin mocked at the guards.

I.C.E. snuck up and grabbed 2 of the guards' legs, and used the same freezing technique that he used on Quentin during their battle.

Quentin grabbed one of the guards by the collar, "You better get out of our way before we end you! And tell you boss that he's going to be in BIG trouble!"

The guard got scared and ran away, with the others following, or passed out on the ground.

( **Song Ends** )

"One less thing to worry about. Right...uuuuummmm?" I.C.E. said.

"I didn't introduce myself?" Quentin asked, "Sorry about that, call me The Shadow."

"Well in that case, one less thing to worry about. Right, 'Shadow'?"

"Exactly," Quentin responded, "let's go after Darkmatter!"

After a bit of running, The team makes it inside the area of the facility that was used as Darkmatter's hiding place/Lab.

"Pretty dark in here, don't ya think?" I.C.E. rambled, "Who could work in a place like this?"

Quentin walked farther into the room and noticed a giant storage room.

"Keep your eyes peeled I.C.E.," he said, "Darkmatter could be anywhere! He's probably well aware that I'm here to stop him."

He opened the door to the storage room and saw many devices and machines, "Well, I found Ryker's tech, but wheres my..."

Suddenly, the sound of a collapsing door. Quentin was slightly startled and looked out the door.

He sees an entrance to another room, with I.C.E. next to the door. "Hey don't look at me, I didn't do that!"

Quentin face palmed about I.C.E. being more concerned about being blamed for a door getting knocked down, rather than finding more evidence.

"I think there's something personal in there!" he said.

The two proceeded into the secret room, it was a lab, shined by a green light bulb. I.C.E. was just confused, but Quentin was ecstatic.

"I found it! I actually found it!" Quentin jumped for joy at the sight of all that was stolen from his parents.

"But wait," he said, "there's something missing."

"What?" I.C.E. asked.

"We found Ryker Mooney's stolen technology, and the Argo's stolen research, but Darkmatter isn't here, at least as far as we know." Quentin answered.

"Great, so now how are we gonna find out where he is?" I.C.E. asked.

"Not where he is I.C.E.," Quentin corrected, "WHO he is."

The two looked all over the lab for anything that could reveal Darkmatter's true identity. Quentin then found a book titled " _R.M's personal log_ "

Quentin skimmed through a bit of it and told I.C.E., "He wrote a journal, and took note of the progression of his plan."

After he reading a bit more of the journal, one peace of writing caught his eye.

 _Dear personal log,_

" _My plan to get rid of the Argos has been going perfectly. I'm going to make contact with the United Nations to have their lab and every piece of research away. Those fools are always taking credit for others' discoveries, and now they will know how it feels!_ "

 _\- R.M._

"This sounds familiar." Quentin thought out loud. He took the tape out of his pocket and played it one more time:

"Clayton's really in to learning this strange creature, but he isn't strong enough to handle it!" said an deep voice.  
"So what do want us to do about it?" asked another voice.  
"I want this lab shut down, and everything in it taken away!" the deep voice answered with anger. "Do all this for me, and I'll pay you a few grands. That idiot Argo, has overshadowed me FOR THE LAST TIME!"

Ryker pressed the fast forward button until he got to a certain point and pressed play again. The sounds of glass breaking and screaming was damaging the speakers.  
"We have the Argos, what shall we do with them?" said someone sounding like they were wearing a gas mask.  
"Spare them, but get them out of that lab and take all their stuff with you." responded the deep voice. "Those fools were no longer be a pain in my ass."

"How is that supposed to help us?" I.C.E. asked, "And who do you think this 'R.M.'"

Quentin's eyes widened and he gasped. "Wait! No. No it can't be!"

He put all the pieces together. Someone who worked with his parents, Was always overshadowed by them until their death, wanted to reconnect with their friends son, was concerned for their safety.

Quentin was full of rage as he finally realized with all these clues together, Darkmatter's true identity was non other than...Ryker Mooney.

Quentin yelled with anger, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Lana could hear him from far away, and contacted him out of worry. "Quentin, are you there? What happened?!"

He answered, "Well Lana, I have some good news, bad news, and something that's in the little grey area between the two!"

"Which is?" Lana asked.

"The good news is that I.C.E. and I found your uncle's tech, and my parents' research, and the bad news is that Darkmatter's not here." Quentin answered.

"Did you find out who he is, or anything new about him?" she asked.

Quentin nervously answered, "Well, THAT's the middle news, you see..."

 **The Flash Theme Song was composed by Blake Neely and is owned by DC and the CW, I don't own it.**


	10. The Final Battle

Later, Somewhere far from the facility:

"MY UNCLE RYKER IS DARKMATTER!?" Lana asked loudly.

"Yeah...heh heh...that's kinda what I meant by somewhere in the middle." Quentin said nervously, "It's good news because now we know who he is, but it's bad news because...well, you know."

"GAAH," Lana screamed, "WHY!? WHY WOULD HE DO THIS!?"

"Believe me," Quentin told Lana, "I'd like to find out why as well!"

"Then let's go after him, we know where he usually is, at least you two do." I.C.E. said.

Quentin then had an idea, "Before we do that, there might be another way to find out why, without asking him ourselves."

Back at the House:

"Hello?" Quentin called out, "What's this." he said as he saw a note on the counter.

" _Dear Quentin,  
_ _Your uncle and I are going out tonight, dinner's in the fridge. Love Aunt Tara._ "

"Well," Lana said, "that's convenient."

"We better go down to the lab." Quentin said.

The group went down to the basement lab to search for possible information on Ryker's intensions.

"Look at that one!" I.C.E. said, " _Argo family discovers alien race: An outside world._ "

"Click on it," Lana said, "There might be some photos."

Quentin clicked on the link, and it showed a news article from over 10 years ago. "Look, its my parents, and...me..." The photo showed Dr. Clayton and Jaqueline Argo, with a 5 year old Quentin in the middle.

"Aaaawwwww, you're adorable!" Lana said in a childish tone.

"Could you do that!" Quentin damanded. "There's gotta be something in this picture that could help us."

"Wait," I.C.E. noticed, "Who's that in the background?", It was a young Ryker Mooney, with a angry look on his face.

"That's definitely him." Lana said.

"When I met him, he said he hadn't seen me since I was 5," Quentin realized, "the same day that this photo must of been taken!"

"But what could have happened?" I.C.E. asked.

"We're about to find out!" Quentin said, "We're going to Mooney Laboratories!"

"Wait," Lana said as she stopped Quentin, "We need to talk about this!"

"What's there to talk about Lana," Quentin said, "Your uncle lied to us all, that's all there is to it!"

"That's not what I mean!" Lana said.

"Then what is it!?" Quentin yelled.

"I mean...I'm sorry." Lana said, shedding a tear.

"Lana...you have nothing to be sorry for." Quentin told her.

"But I do," she said, "your family's life was ruined by MY uncle, and he took advantage of your trust and mine!"

Lana ran over to Quentin and hugged him, "I just hope you don't hate me for that!"

Quentin smiled with empathy and returned the hug, "Of course I don't hate you, but I DO hate your uncle."

"Yoo hoo," I.C.E. said, "Can we save the forgiveness for after we beat this guy?!"

"Of course," Quentin said with a slight blush, "Lana, can you hack into Mooney Laboratories' security cameras from here?"

"I think so." Lana answered, also with a slight blush. She went back on her laptop to search.

While waiting for an answer, I.C.E. started chuckling, "Real smooth, pal."

"What?" Quentin asked.

"You know exactly what." I.C.E. answered.

Quentin finally realized what I.C.E. meant, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, We barely know each other!"

"I saw the look on both of your faces." he responded.

"Oh please," Quentin said, "The last thing I need is a token love interest who's only part of the story as an excuse for someone I have to constantly save!"

"What was that?" Lana asked.

"Nothing." Quentin answered.

Lana continued hacking in, "I'm in! But there's nobody around."

"That can't be right." I.C.E. said.

Lana continued her sentence, "Nobody, except one person."

"Mooney himself." Quentin finished.

"We need to go now!" I.C.E. said.

"Agreed." Quentin said.

He grabbed their hands, turned into his spirit form, and flew off to the lab.

Once they were there, the place was deserted.

"Man, when I said nobody was around, I thought it was only in the rooms and hallways with cameras." Lana said.

They continued walking around the main area, but once again, not a single person was in the building.

"There's only one explanation for this." Quentin said.

"And what would that be?" I.C.E. asked.

Suddenly, The security alarm went off, and the room was flashing red.

"It's a trap!" Quentin said loudly.

Lockdown doors started shutting, including the one for the entrance.

"Crap!" Lana said, "How are we gonna get out!?"

"Easy," Quentin said, "I can go through the wall in my spirit form with-"

"You aren't going anywhere, Mr. Argo." interrupted a familiar voice.

At the top of the stairs was the man himself.

"Ryker..." Quentin said.

"I gotta say, Quentin," Ryker said, "The superhero look really suits you."

"You're Darkmatter!" Quentin said in a deep voice.

"Umm..." Ryker said, "...Surprise!"

"Tell me Ryker," Quentin demanded, "TELL ME WHY YOU DID WHAT YOU DID!"

"You wanna know the story?" Ryker angrily asked, "Do ya! Your parents took everything from me!"

"What are you talking about?!" Lana asked with tears of betrayal in her eyes.

"Let me explain, sweaty." Ryker said to his niece, "Before Quentin and you were born, Clayton and I were inseparable in the world of science. Ever since college, we had always believed that there were living beings beyond Earth. Of course, we were always made fun of for it, but there were some people who had faith in us, including your parents and Quentin's mother, that's how they met."

"Cut the chatter, and get to the big stuff, will ya!" I.C.E. yelled.

"Okay, okay Snow boy," Ryker said, "One day, we found something in the atmosphere, it was a meteorite. But this one was different then most, It had green craters and left a black mist."

"Just like the meteor from the doominoid invasion!" Quentin realized.

"Precisely," Ryker said, "but we had to take extreme measures to study it. We worked together on a special machine that allows us to contact outside life, and it worked. The meteor fell from the sky and when we brought it into the lab, we saw what many though was impossible. An extra terrestrial. We asked the strange creature inside the meteor what it was. And it answered, "A midnight shadow". We continued to study it for years, and when you were 5, they took you to the science expo where we showed it off to the public."

"The photo from the news article." Quentin remembered, "but what was with the face you made in it?"

"We may have worked together, but it was that day that changed everything." Ryker explained, "Your parents were getting all the attention, and took credit for everything that we've done up to that point. After that day, they were busy getting notoriety and glory for their work, not once mentioning my role in any of it. So I came up with an idea to get back at them, and there was only thing I could use. I found the midnight shadow that we studied, and it told me why it really came to Earth. It was to find host to live in and control the human race."

"We never wanted to take over the planet," Terios said from Quentin body, "That was the plan of that traitor, Morfier!"

"Who's Morfier?" Lana asked.

"A midnight shadow who rebelled against my people," Terios explained, "We tried capturing him but he managed to escape through a meteorite, hoping to conquer us all one day."

"That meteorite was the same one from years ago!" I.C.E. realized, "But where is he now?"

Ryker searched his jacket, and pulled out a jar with a midnight shadow with a red hue instead of purple.

"Morfier!" Terios yelled.

"It's been far too long, hasn't it Terios?" Morfier said in deep echoing voice. "I gave Ryker the idea to help me take over the midnight shadows by stealing the machine that called me here."

"But, your parents found out what I was doing," Ryker continued, "They through me out, and that's when I began to become who I am now!"

Ryker threw the jar on the ground, shattering it, and releasing Morfier.

"No, Uncle Ryker, please!" Lana said crying, "Don't do this!"

"It's already too late for that, sweetie!" Ryker said with an evil smile, with Morfier entering his body. He became engulfed in a black orb, just like Quentin during his transformation. When it disappeared, that's where things got creepy. His entire body was covered in purple fire, and he had glowing orange eyes and mouth.

"Ryker?!" Quentin and Lana both asked in shock and confusion.

"No," He answered in a demonic echoing voice, "You may call me...Darkmatter! And I didn't finish my story, you see Quentin, after your parents tossed me out like garbage, I still had Morfier with me, so I decided to give them the biggest pay back anyone of their image could ever conceive! I have ties with the United Nations, and I hired their best members to take everything away from them! Just like they did to me. Once I did get all of their research, I let my inner demons out. I have your father's machine nearly rebuilt, and once it's finished, I will contact the entire midnight shadow population!"

Lana gasped.

"And what could you possible do after that?" I.C.E. asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" Darkmatter asked, "Once every midnight shadow in the galaxy arrives, they will be under my control, and the citizens will be under their control! First, we take Montreal, and then the rest of Canada, and then, THE ENTIRE PLANET!"

"No," Quentin told him, "You won't!"

Darkmatter turned towards The Shadow.

"You may have succeeded in getting revenge on my family and getting what you think is yours," Quentin told him, "but now that you've so foolishly revealed your true self and intentions..."

Quentin and Darkmatter charged towards each other and butted heads.

"I can protect the citizens...FROM YOU!" he yelled as he shot black fireballs out of his hands.

 **(I Am... All of Me by Crush 40 plays)**

Darkmatter fires a black lazer from his hand to destroy the fireballs.

" _Damn it!_ " Quentin thought.

"You're not strong enough to stop me Quentin!" Darkmatter said.

He then noticed an icicle hitting his foot, "Aaahh! WHO DID THAT!?"

"That would be me." I.C.E. said, "And this is long overdue!"

"You always did surprise me during tests, White." Darmatter said.

"I'll make you pay for what you did to me!" I.C.E. yelled, "You threatened my family, forced me to turn the city into a winter wonderland! And you locked me in a freezer for 7 hours straight! 7 FREAKING...HOURS!"

"And I'd do it again!" Darkmatter said as he threw a fireball at I.C.E.

I.C.E. dodged it but it almost hit Lana.

"Lana, you need to get out of here!" Quentin told her.

"I wanna stay and help!" Lana responded.

"You don't have any powers, you can't defend yourself!" Quentin continued.

Lana tried to convince Quentin to keep her around, "But I-"

"Just go hide!" Quentin shouted.

Lana ran off to another room to avoid getting hurt.

"Enough of this," Darkmatter said, "I'm going make your death as slow and painful as possible!"

"Wanna bet!" Quentin said as punched Darkmatter in the stomach, and uppercut him.

I.C.E. made an icicle in the shape of a spear and threw it at Darkmatter, impaling him.

The ice spear melted and did no damage to him.

"What!?" Quentin and I.C.E. said in shock.

"You think you can kill me with frozen water?!" Darkmatter laughed, "You're even more pathetic than I thought!"

"I'll make you eat those words!" I.C.E. yelled.

Darkmatter flew down, grabbed I.C.E., and he began steaming up. "Are you sure about that?"

I.C.E.'s armour started melting, "I'm feeling weaker! Can't...make...ice!"

Darkmatter dropped the powerless I.C.E.

"What did you do to him!?" Quentin asked angrily.

"Relax, all I did was give a bit of a meltdown." Darkmatter answered, "He's not dead...yet. But you will be soon!"

They turned into their spirit forms and continued to throw punches and kicks as they flew through different rooms of the building.

Lana continued looking for somewhere to hide, until she saw Quentin and her uncle fly through the wall.

"I can't take this, there's gotta be a way I can help him!" she said to herself.

She noticed the entrance to the Argo lab, "The machine!"

Inside the lab, there was some sort of satellite dish.

"I have no idea how this thing could contact every midnight shadow," Lana said to herself, "but I definitely know how to stop it!"

Darkmatter had Quentin in a headlock, "Before I control all the midnight shadows, and after I kill you, I'm gonna kill your frozen friend, and then I'm gonna kill your aunt and uncle! I win Shadow!"

The power suddenly surged and turned back on, "What was that?!" Quentin asked himself as he kneed Darkmatter in the thigh, freeing himself from the headlock.

Darkmatter disappeared and reappeared in the lab, "MY MACHINE!"

"Sorry Uncle," Lana said as she held a hammer, "but your plans are scrambled!"

"HOW DARE YOU!?" Darkmatter yelled.

Quentin appeared in a puff of smoke. "Lana, run!"

Darkmatter let her run away.

"I'm surprised your not stopping her or taking her hostage." Quentin said.

"She's family," Darkmatter said, "I wouldn't dream of it. But as for YOU!"

Darkmatter dashed into Quentin, making them go flying through the wall, and landing on the floor below.

"I'm going to make you suffer, and there's nothing you can do to stop me!" he continued.

Quentin then remembered his battle with I.C.E.:

 _"Why is nothing working?" he asked in shock._

 _"We midnight shadows hate extreme temperatures." Terios explained._

 _"And your only telling me this now!?" Quentin asked furiously._

Back to present day:

"Nothing, huh?" Quentin said bluntly as he used his spirit form to fly towards I.C.E.'s arm pieces. He saw the temperature was at -62 degrees.

"Accept when I turn the cold up!" Quentin said as he pointed the arm piece at Darkmatter and fired a wave of -100 degree Icy wind.

Darkmatter was becoming weaker and Morfier was starting to deteriorate from his body, "NNOOOOO! I..I..FEEELLLL...GAAAAH!"

"Doesn't feel so good, huh?" Quentin asked sarcastically, "Well why don't we turn the head up!"

Quentin high jumped over Darkmatter, and unleashed a black flamethrower from his hands.

"I didn't even have to train to do this!" he said in excitement.

"GGGRRRRRR...THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING!" Darkmatter screamed, "I WILL NOT BE DEFEATED BY THE LIKES OF YOU!"

"Then how about the likes of both of us?" said Lana, holding I.C.E.'s arm piece and firing the icy wind.

"NNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Darkmatter said as Morfier left his body and he turn back into Ryker.

 **(Song ends)**

"We need to contain that thing!" Quentin said.

"Thankfully, I got just what we need." Lana said as he took out another jar.

Morfier started getting sucked into the jar, "No, not again!" he said.

Ryker got up and notice he was normal again, "You won't beat me that easily, Quentin!"

"Really, cause I'm pretty sure I won!" Quentin stated.

"Well you left plenty of damage to my building," Ryker told him, "I ruined your parents' reputation, I can ruin yours too! It's my word against yours."

"Actually Uncle," Lana said as she pulled out her phone with photographic evidence, and a tape recorder, which when played said:

 _"Once every midnight shadow in the galaxy arrives, they will be under my control, and the citizens will be under their control! First, we take Montreal, and then the rest of Canana, and then, THE ENTIRE PLANET!"_

Lana continued, "It's your word against yours."

Ryker slammed his fist on the ground in defeat, and the sound of police sirens approached the building.

"I can't let the cops see me," Quentin said, "Think you can handle this from here?"

"Of course." Lana answered as she faced Ryker. "My parents are gonna a long talk with you when they come home!"

"Grrr!" Ryker growled.

Once the cops showed up, Lana showed them the evidence and asked them to take I.C.E. to a proper hospital.

Hours later:

Quentin was back in his house and watching the news. Once the truth about his parents went public, Ryker was sentenced to life in prison, and Morfier was taken to another lab to be studied.

"That was some battle, huh?" Terios asked.

"Sure...I guess." Quentin said in a tired tone.

"Quentin?" said a familiar voice. "Are you feeling okay?"

Terios quickly went back into Quentin's watch.

"Honestly Uncle Forrest," Quentin answered, "I don't know how to feel. The person who I was trying to track down was someone I thought I could trust."

Forrest put his hand on Quentin's shoulder, "Look on the bright side, you restored our family's image. You helped that superhero save the city, and best of all, you made me and your aunt very proud."

Quentin blushed, "Thanks Uncle Forrest."

"Also," Forrest said, "Your friend wanted to meet you downtown."

"Um...okay." Quentin said.

They went into their car and drove downtown.

"Where did they say they wanted to meet me?" Quentin asked.

"Over by that building over there." Forrest answered.

Forrest dropped Quentin off and drove away.

"Hello?" Quentin called out. He suddenly felt something hug him from behind. It was Lana.

"You made it!" she said.

"Yes, I did," Quentin responded, "Why did you want to meet me here?"

"I wanted to show you something, follow me!" Lana said as she ran down an alleyway.

Quentin followed and saw a ladder to the roof of a building. He climbed up and saw Lana with a new invention.

"What is that thing?" He asked.

"It's a meta human tracker" Lana answered, "With it, I can alert you of any other crimes caused by metas or otherwise."

"Sounds like somebody watches a lot of Sci-fi." Quentin chuckled, "Although, I do to, so I shouldn't be talking."

"There are still some meta humans left at the holding facility," Lana explained, "they could attack at any moment."

A bunch of cop cars drove by, giving the idea that there was a crime happening near by.

"That's my cue!" Quentin said as he turned into his Shadow costume.

"Wait!" Lana said before Quentin flew off.

"What is it?" Quentin asked.

Lana pulled him closer and kissed his cheek, causing both of them to blush.

"That was for luck." she explained.

"Cool," an embarrassed Quentin said, "but I don't think this will take long."

Quentin jumped off the building and flew away in his spirit form, following the cop cars.

Hidden on the top of a taller building was a man wearing a black hood with The Shadow's logo on the chest except it was purple and the eyes were shaped like lighting bolts, long pants, a metal mask that covered his whole face with purple lenses and a red scar across the right eye. and gloves. In a voice sounding a lot like Kylo Ren, he said, "Little Quentin...you've gotten stronger as the years go by...but you'll never be prepared for what I have in stored for you in the future."

 **The End**

 **"I AM...All of Me" from Shadow the Hedgehog (2005) by Sega was written and preformed by Crush 40. I do not own it.**

And that was the origin and first adventure with The Shadow. Be on the look own for the continuing adventures as well as fanfic adaptations of other Spectrum superhero movies, Coming Soon.

Thank you for reading.


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